1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a parking lot congested state determination device, a parking lot congested state determination method, and a computer program.
2. Description of the Related Art
For some time, it has been possible to use an on-board navigation device, a mobile information device such as a personal digital assistant (PDA), a mobile telephone, or the like, a personal computer, or the like to store map information on roads such as ordinary roads, expressways, and the like, as well as on facility names and the like, in various types of storage devices. It has also been possible to download the map information from a server or the like and to display a map of a desired area for a user.
Furthermore, the known navigation device and the like not only display a map, but also provide guidance to parking lots where a vehicle can park in order to make parking more convenient for the user. In addition, in a case where a parking lot is congested, guidance to that effect is provided before the vehicle arrives at the parking lot. For example, in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. JP-A-2004-177199 (Page 8, FIG. 5), a navigation device is described that determines whether or not a destination parking lot is full by using one of an FM receiver and a beacon receiver to receive information that pertains to whether or not the parking lot is full. In a case where the navigation device determines that the parking lot is full, the device searches for and provides guidance to another parking lot in the vicinity.